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Domestic helpers in Singapore face ‘revenge accusation’ from some bosses for quitting job: report

  • An NGO helping migrant workers said some employers accuse their helpers of theft as a punitive measure against them
  • It added while most turn out to be baseless cases, the employees are hit hard financially because they are not allowed to work while the probe is ongoing

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Domestic helpers enjoying a picnic at a park in Singapore. Photo: AFP
TODAY
Some migrant domestic workers in Singapore face “revenge accusations” by their employers, usually of theft, but they cannot work until the matter is resolved even if it is baseless, a report said.
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Published on Tuesday, the report explores how some employers use these accusations filed with police as punitive and retaliatory measures against the workers, almost invariably women.

In some cases, the allegations are made after the migrant domestic worker leaves her job and the employer’s home, said the report by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home).

In most cases of these workers accused of crimes by their employer, no further action is taken by police, but their finances are impacted as they are not allowed to work while investigations are ongoing. Their families back home, reliant on their income, also suffer, it added.

The report cited the high-profile case of helper Parti Liyani who was accused by her well-connected employer of theft, which led to criminal charges and a conviction before an appeal court cleared Parti.
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In April, Karl Liew Kai Lung, the son of ex-Changi Airport Group chairman Liew Mun Leong, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail for lying to a judge in the case.

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